Prithvi Shaw and Ayush Mhatre were Mumbai’s openers at the start of the 2024/25 season in October last year. But after a poor start from the India batter, he was dropped and replaced by Angkrish Raghuvanshi, who was handed his debut cap. But Mumbai are set to change their opening combination in the match against Jammu and Kashmir, with India stars Rohit and Jaiswal back in the team.

In fact, Rahane was rather startled at the query on whether Rohit and Jaiswal would open for Mumbai as he said: “is this even a question?”

“For any cricketer, getting match preparation (and) game-time is really important. Obviously, there is no red-ball (Test) cricket at this moment. But they are going to play white-ball (competitions),” he added.

The former India vice-captain was also all praise for Jaiswal as he reckoned the youngster’s determination at the highest level has been the reason for his success in international cricket.

“…(In the) last couple of years, he’s been performing well for the Indian team (and) before that, going into the Indian team, he did well for Mumbai as well,” he said.

“It’s good to have a guy like Yashasvi in the team who is really hungry and determined to score runs. These things will really impact all the youngsters in the dressing room,” Rahane added.

Can Mumbai make the quarterfinal?

Mumbai currently stand third in the Group A table with three wins in five matches, where one other ended in a draw. Second-placed Jammu and Kashmir too have recorded same number of wins, but both their other two games ended in a draw. Baroda stand top of the table with four wins in five matches.

Rahane expressed confidence that Mumbai can make a positive start to the second half of the red-ball season after spending a considerable time in white-ball competitions. According to the domestic schedule, all teams played five league games in Ranji Trophy before white-ball tournaments – Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy and Vijay Hazare ODI Trophy – were conducted. The Ranji season now resumes for its second and final leg.

“The challenge is to adapt quickly as a team because everyone has been playing white-ball cricket since last one-and-a-half-months. For us as a team, it’s important to be in the moment, focus on our strengths,” Rahane said.

“In red-ball (cricket), we’ve been doing really good as a team so it’s all about staying in the moment, not too much thinking about the result and outcome,” he said.